A Wish Gone Wrong
by whyyouackinsocraycray
Summary: When Dipper discovers a way to be with Wendy, he is thrilled, but when he makes a mistake that forces Wendy to relive the worst time of her life, it's up to him to fix what he did before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1

Dipper POV

It was just another normal day at the Mystery Shack. Well, as normal as a day at the Mystery Shack can be. Wendy was sitting at the cash register, reading a magazine. Mabel was sitting in the corner with Waddles, Candy and Grenda, giggling about who-knows-what. Grunkle Stan was wearing his classic "Man of Mystery" outfit and ripping off unsuspecting tourists. Soos was off un-clogging the toilets for the third time that day. (I don't think that it's even possible to clog a portable toilet, but I just don't have the heart to tell him.) Then, there was me. I would have flipped through the journal that I found in the woods, but Mabel was the only one who knew that I had it and I wasn't about to tell anyone else. Except maybe Wendy. Oh, Wendy. A part of me knew that I didn't have a very good chance with her. I mean, she was fifteen, I was twelve, but that didn't make me give up hope. As I stood there, daydreaming about her, the door opened, and I heard an all too familiar voice.

"Hey, Babe."

"Oh, hey Robbie," Wendy replied, looking up from her magazine. Robbie walked over to the counter, gave Wendy a kiss on the cheek, and whispered in her ear. I don't know what he said, but it made her laugh. I loved that laugh. But I hated it when it was Robbie who brought it about. The clock struck three, signaling that our shifts were over. Wendy went off with Robbie, and I went in the living room, pulling out the journal. Still bummed out that Robbie got so much of Wendy's attention, I figured that reading would take my mind off of them, but I just couldn't focus. I kept wondering what they were doing. Maybe they were at the movies, or going for a romantic walk through the woods, or... I stopped. I was just torturing myself. I tried as hard as I could to focus on the journal. I was starting to read a page on werewolves when Mabel walked in, carrying Waddles.

"Hey, Dipping Sauce!" She shouted, surprising me, and making me drop the journal. "Are you okay? I know you don't like that Wendy and Robbie are still going out."

"You know what?" I said "If I was Wendy's age, then she would definitely pick me over that jerk!"

"Of course she would, Dipper! But, you're not her age. Maybe in a couple of years, it won't seem like as big of an age difference, and you two will go out." She said optimistically.

"I can't wait a few years, Mabel!" I said. "I just wish that there was some way I could get her to go out with me now." I sat back down and grabbed the journal. When I dropped it, it had opened to a random page. I looked carefully at the entry it was on. "Oh my gosh, Mabel!" I exclaimed, "This might be the solution to all my problems!"

"What's it say? What's it say?!" She asked.

I began to read: _Local legend states that somewhere in the forest is a cave that serves as a home to a powerful witch. The legend says that she will grant the wish of anyone able to locate the cave._ I finished reading with a huge smile on my face.

"I don't think that this is a good idea, Dipper." Mabel said. "You don't even know that this witch exists."

"Oh, yes I do!" I said, "And the book tells me exactly how to find her!" I pointed to a map at the bottom of the page.

"I still don't think you should do it." She said, walking away. But I'd already made up my mind. I was going to find that witch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dipper POV**

I headed out, following the map in my journal. It seemed like forever before I reached the cave. I could see why almost nobody else found it, because it was hidden incredibly well. Walking in, I tried to think of the perfect way to word my wish.

"Who goes there?" I heard a voice shout.

"I-I'm Dipper Pines." I stuttered. Being in the presence of an all-powerful witch was pretty nerve-wracking.

"I suppose you want me to grant you a wish." She said.

"Yeah, actually, I do!" I replied. A wrinkled hand signaled for me to come closer. I still couldn't see her face, and I never would.

"What is it that you require?" She asked.

"Well," I said, "There's this girl I like named Wendy, but I really don't have a chance with her because she's fifteen, and I'm only twelve." I replied. "Well, I was wondering if you could make me and Wendy the same age, so we could be together."

"Of course I can do that," the witch said. "But it will take a while. Tomorrow, when the clock strikes twelve, you will have your wish."

"Thank you so much!" I said, rushing out, not waiting to hear the witch's warning. I was going to be Wendy's age, what could go wrong? I thought about what I would be like as a fifteen year old. Taller, smarter, cooler. I wondered if Mabel would turn fifteen, too. I mean, she **is** my twin. That brought me to the next question: should I tell Mabel that I went to see the witch? She told me not to go, and would only judge me, but on the other hand, we told each other everything. I decided that I would tell her the next day, when the clock struck twelve. I have to tell you, the rest of that day couldn't have gone any slower. By the time the next day came around, it felt like many more should have. At 11:30, Grunkle Stan walked up to me.

"Hey, knucklehead." He said, "I need you to take down those signs you put up in the woods. As it turns out, not that many people go in there."

"But," I started to protest, but Grunkle Stan insisted. "Can't Soos do it?" I asked.

"No," he said "Soos is unclogging the toilets." Big surprise. So I went into the woods. Once I grabbed the last sign, I looked at my watch. 12:00. I didn't feel any different, but I was pretty sure it had worked. That was when I heard a scream. It sounded like it was coming from a fairly young girl, and it was coming from the Mystery Shack.

"Mabel!" I yelled, sprinting for the Shack. When I got there, Mabel was at the door. "Mabel, are you okay?" I asked frantically.

"Yeah," she said, "You were taking a while, and I wanted to see if you were okay. I was just walking out the door when I heard a scream, and that's when you showed up."

"You know, it was probably one of Stan's tricks." I said. "He probably wanted people to come to the Shack to see what it was. I mean, what else could it be? Oh, by the way, do you notice anything different about me?"

"Uhh, no?" Mabel replied.

"You mean I don't look a little, I don't know, older?" I asked.

"No, you're still the same age you were thirty minutes ago. Well, I guess you're thirty minutes older."

"What?" I asked "I can't believe it! The witch lied to me!"

"You went to see the witch?" Mabel asked, "Dipper, do you know how much could have gone wrong?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"No buts!" Mabel interrupted. "You knew perfectly well that you shouldn't have gone, and yet you did!"

"And nothing bad happened!" I said, "In fact, by the looks of it, nothing happened. Can we just go inside?"

"Fine." Mabel said as we turned towards the door. When we got inside, I realized how wrong I had been. I also realized where the scream had come from. My wish **had** been granted, but not at all the way I'd imagined. Standing on the other side of the room, staring wide-eyed in shock and terror at a mirror, was a twelve year old Wendy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wendy POV**

Looking at my reflection I was both confused and petrified. I kept trying to tell myself that it was just a dream, but somehow, I knew that it wasn't. That was when I heard a gasp. I turned to see Dipper and Mabel standing behind me.

"Dipper," Mabel said, turning to her brother, "Can I have word with you?" She then pulled him outside. I turned back to look at my reflection. I was twelve again, by the looks of it. I was shorter than before, but still taller than most kids of that age. My hair fell just below my shoulders in loosely tied pigtails. To my dismay, my face was also covered with acne and I felt the all-too-familiar tug of braces on my teeth. _Just great,_ I thought, **_right_**_ back into my awkward phase. _I began to wonder what Dipper and Mabel were talking about.

**Dipper POV**

"I can't believe you Dipper!" Mabel yelled at me. "First, you completely ignore my advice and put all your trust in some witch, and then you have to go and turn Wendy twelve? What the heck were you thinking?"

"Well, I didn't know that she would turn twelve! When I asked the witch to make us the same age, I thought that it would make me fifteen!" I argued.

"Yes, because that would take a lot less explaining!" Mabel said sarcastically. "And when did you plan on telling _me_ this, Dipper?"

"About the same time the spell took effect." I told her. "Relax, Mabel. Think about it. All we have to do is go back to the witch and ask her to undo the spell."

"Fine." Mabel relented. "But I think we have a little explaining to do to Wendy."

"Well, what if she asks why I wanted to be her age? I can't just **tell** Wendy that I have a crush on her!"

"You might have to Dipper." Mabel said. Part of me knew that she was right, but I would still do almost anything to keep her from finding out.

**Wendy POV**

I heard Dipper and Mabel walking in the door.

"Wendy?" Dipper called out.

"Go away!" I shouted. Of course, that just gave away my hiding spot behind the counter. They walked up to me and I turned away from them. "Don't look at me!" I said with tears in my eyes.

"It's okay, Wendy." I heard Mabel say.

"No it's not!" I shouted. "It's awful!"

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad!" Dipper reassured me. I turned around and they both flinched.

"I told you it's horrible!" I said.

"No, Wendy! You just look really different, that's all!" Dipper told me.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really." He replied. Mabel grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"H-how did this happen?" I asked.

"That's kind of a long story." Dipper told me.

"I've got time." I said. With that, they led me into the living room.

"Well," Dipper began, "It all started in the beginning of the summer when I found this journal in the woods." He pulled out an old journal with a six fingered hand and a number three on it. I was pretty sure I had seen it before; maybe he had it in the Dusk 2 Dawn? So, they told me everything including some crazy stories. For example: Norman, the Gobblewonker, Gideon's amulet, the magic flashlight, the Summerween Trickster, and finally, the witch. While what had happened finally made sense, their story seemed to have a few holes in it. It felt like Dipper didn't want to tell me something. As he stood up, I thought of something.

"Uh, Dipper?" I asked, "Why did you want us to be the same age in the first place?"

"Uhh, w-well, I uh, just, uh, wanted to, uh, hang out with you...a-and your friends! W-without it being, um, you know, awkward!" Dipper said with a nervous chuckle. The mention of my friends brought another question to my mind, and caused me to overlook the fact that Dipper was obviously lying.

"What am I going to tell my friends?" I asked, "They're going to flip if they see me like this!" The door of the Mystery Shack opened.

"Wendy!" I heard Robbie's voice calling.

"Hide me!" I yelled. There was no way that I was going to let Robbie see me in that state. I hid behind the couch. It was perfect timing on my part, because that was when he walked in the room.

"You're not allowed in here!" Dipper told him.

"Yeah, whatever, Squirt." He said. "Have any of you dorks seen Wendy?"

"Yeah, I think I saw her in the bottomless pit. You should really go jump in there!" Dipper retorted. Robbie picked up Dipper by his shirt collar.

"You really need to think of some new comebacks, wimp!" He said, throwing him on the ground and walking out the door. I gasped. Up until that moment, I hadn't realized that there was such bad blood between my boyfriend and Dipper. They seemed to get along fine when I was around. I wondered what else they were keeping from me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dipper POV**

Mabel, Wendy, and I headed towards the witch's cave. Following the map very carefully, I led the girls to where I knew it would be. We got to the clearing where it was, and I headed towards the area where it was concealed. Looking at it, though, I noticed something.

"Uh, guys?" I said, "We've got a bit of a problem."

"W-what's wrong?" Wendy asked.

"I could have sworn that the cave was right here, but it's just a solid wall!" I replied. Then, I saw a note. I picked it up and began to read it out loud:

"_I was pretty sure that you would be back. My customers are never fully satisfied with the results of my spells. All of them are the same. They go looking for me, despite what others think they should do; in order for me to grant them a greedy wish. Then, once they realize they have made a mistake, they come running back, thinking that I can undo the problem they have caused for themselves and for others. You have made a grave error, and it is up to you to fix it. If you can't find a way to break the spell in the next two days, it will become permanent"._

That was when Wendy started to panic.

"Wait, we only have **TWO DAYS**!? That's not enough! I can't be stuck like this **forever**!"

"Wendy, calm down!" I said.

"How am I supposed to calm down, Dipper?" She asked "I'll have to spend the rest of my life hiding from my friends and family! I can never just be a normal person anymore! My life is basically over!"

"Wendy!" I interjected, "We might be able break the spell. I mean, it's got to be possible, or the witch wouldn't be making us do this."

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" She asked. I knew the answer right away:

"We'll look through the journal to see if there's anything there. If there isn't, I know someone who might be able to help us."

**Wendy POV**

Dipper led us back to the Mystery Shack, where we started to look through the journal. It took us hours to get all the way through it, and we found nothing useful. Tears began to fill my eyes once again, but Dipper reassured me that everything was going to be alright. He walked out to find the person he called his "Plan B". I began to wonder who it was when I heard a voice coming from behind me.

"Whoa, Dude! You're like, Dipper and Mabel's age!"

"Oh, sure!" I said, "Let Soos in on how terrible I look!"

"Okay, first of all, give up the whole: "I look awful" thing, because you don't" Dipper said, "And secondly, give Soos a chance, okay? He's helped us through a lot." I figured Dipper was right. He usually was.

**Soos POV**

Okay, so somehow Wendy got all young again. There really isn't much that would surprise me in this town anymore, but that was pretty weird. I actually felt pretty bad, because I didn't know how to help them, and Dipper thought I did for some reason. But the little dude was counting on me, so I wanted to help them in any way I could. Even though the whole situation was crazy-bonkers creepy!

**Mabel POV**

We all tried to come up with ways to break the spell, but we couldn't think of anything. At the end of the day, we realized that Wendy's family would be worried about her. We all knew that she couldn't go home, but she could text her dad to tell him that she was sleeping over. Now all we had to do was get her past Grunkle Stan, which was pretty easy, considering the fact that he rarely payed any attention to us, anyway. Wendy would sleep in the attic with Dipper and me, which was good, because I had a few questions to ask her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Mabel POV**

That night, I could tell that Wendy was really nervous. Why wouldn't she be? Either way, I had to ask her some things.

"Wendy, you asleep?" I asked around 10:00.

"Not anymore." She replied. "What is it, Mabel?"

"I'm just curious about something," I told her.

"What?" she asked.

"Why do you keep putting yourself down?" I inquired.

"Don't you think that's kind of a personal question?" she asked, obviously feeling uncomfortable.

"Well, yeah, but I really want to know." I told her.

"I-" she paused.

"You what?" I asked.

"I'd really rather not talk about it." She said.

"But-"

"Please, just drop it." She said, her voice shaking. I quickly changed the subject.

"So, uh, how do you think we'll undo the spell?" I asked her.

"Honestly, Mabel, I trust Dipper, but I don't think that he'll be able to get us out of this mess. Even if he does, things won't be the same."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I'll never look at Robbie the same way again after the things he said to you and Dipper." She said, "Honestly, I think I'm going to break up with him. I just have to do it in a way that we can still be comfortable around each other, because if I don't then it will just make our time with all of our friends **incredibly** awkward." We both giggled quietly, trying not to wake Dipper.

"I think that's a good choice." I told her. "Dipper will really be happy. He and Robbie can't stand each other."

"Yeah," She agreed. "I don't understand how anyone could possibly not like Dipper. I mean he's so sweet, and funny, and smart, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" I interrupted, "You're starting to sound like you have a crush on him!"

"What?" She snickered. "No way! A crush on Dipper? I mean, come on, even if I did, I'm fifteen, he's twelve."

"Well, technically, you're both twelve, now." I pointed out.

"Well, it's not like I had any feelings for him before, so why would I now?" She asked me.

"I don't know." I replied.

**Wendy POV**

Even after Mabel went to sleep, I couldn't get back to sleep. There was no way that I had a crush on Dipper. I had already settled that in my head, at least for the time being. Even if I did, it wasn't like I was going to act on it. I mean, that would never work out. Would it? Well, it wasn't like he felt that way about me, right? I couldn't have a crush on him. I didn't have a crush on him. Or did I?

**Dipper POV**

The next morning, Mabel and Wendy kept exchanging glances. I didn't understand why, it was probably just some girl thing. We all decided to try looking in the library to see if we could find anything that would reverse the spell. It seemed like we were unsuccessful until Wendy found an old book hidden in the back of the library. It was covered in dust, as if nobody had read it in years. I wiped the dust off of the cover with my sleeve. It was titled: Witches, Warlocks, and Wizards; A Guide to Magic.

"Dude! This is like, exactly what we need!" Soos exclaimed. We skimmed through to see if we could find anything. Then, we got to precisely the page we were looking for. Wendy began to read out loud. (I still couldn't get used to her voice as a twelve year old)

"_On many occasions, witches will grant a wish and refuse to break the spell. Usually, this is because the witch wants to teach someone a lesson. If that is the case, she will likely be watching through a crystal ball at all times. The spell will be lifted if it is proven to the witch that the lesson has been learned." _

"The witch never said anything about teaching us a lesson! What on earth would she have to teach us?" I asked.

"Not us, Dipper, You." Mabel said. I realized that she was right. This was all my fault. I had to figure out what it was that she wanted to teach me within the next two days or else. Wendy was counting on me, and there was no way I was going to let her down.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wendy POV**

Dipper paced back and forth trying to figure out what the witch was trying to teach him.

"You know, Dipper, maybe it's not something you can figure out. You might actually need to just do something, and you'll learn it without even trying. And that's not going to happen unless you stop pacing."

"You're right, Wendy." _He thinks I'm right! _I squealed in my head. _Wait! What am I thinking? That's not something to get excited about; it's not like I have a crush on him!_ Dipper said something to me.

"What?" I asked, snapping back into reality.

"I said: do you want to go for a walk?"

"Yes, definitely!" I shouted a little too enthusiastically.

"Okay, let's go!" He said, and we headed towards the door. Soos tried to follow us, but Mabel stopped him.

"I think that they want to be alone." She told him. I made a mental note to thank her later. She was right. I** did** want to be alone with him. We walked to the forest in silence.

"Okay," I said as soon as we were out of hearing range of anyone in the Mystery Shack. "What's the** real** reason you did it?"

"D-did what?" he asked.

"You know," I replied, "made the wish." He hesitated.

"Come on, Dipper, you know you can tell me anything!" I prodded.

"It would just freak you out if I told you." He responded.

"No, it wouldn't!" I said.

"Yes, it would!" he insisted.

"I really don't think that anything could freak me out as much as this situation." I told him.

"Touché." He said, as he took a deep breath. He hesitated, but eventually figured that he'd have to tell me. "I kind of...sort of, mayhavealittlebitofacrushony ou." He mumbled so quickly and quietly that I couldn't understand a word he said.

"Come again?" I asked.

"I have a crush on you." He said.

"W-what?" I asked him.

"There, I said it!" He told me. "You probably hate me now, don't you?" He asked. I didn't say anything. I don't know if it was what he had told me that sparked my next action. I don't know if it was the fact that we were in that situation, or all of the heroic stories that he had told me, or maybe that, like Mabel, twelve was when I went through my whole boy-crazy phase. It might have been a mix of several of those reasons, or none of them at all, but standing there in the middle of the forest, I kissed him.

**Mabel POV**

When Dipper and Wendy got back to the Shack, I could tell that something was up. They weren't speaking with each other, or making eye contact, and you could cut the tension with a knife.

"What-" I began.

"I don't want to talk about it." Dipper said, cutting me off.

"I'll tell you later." Wendy said as Dipper walked out of the room. That night, she told me the whole story.

"It was a bad idea. I wasn't thinking, he said that he liked me, and it just happened!" She said.

"Well, what did Dipper do?" I asked.

"He just looked surprised. He hasn't talked to me since!" she replied. "Gosh! How could I be so stupid?"

"Wendy, relax!" I said. "Dipper was probably just surprised that you feel the same way about him as he does about you! I mean, he's kind of completely in love with you! You want to go talk to him?" she nodded. With that, we headed downstairs.

**Dipper POV**

I still hadn't quite recovered from that moment in the woods. I had spent hours planning how it would go, and that was not at all what I had imagined it would be. I guess I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. As I sat there, trying to comprehend what had happened, Mabel and Wendy came down. The conversation that we had that night seemed to go on forever and it was one that I would never forget. Ever.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dipper POV**

At first, nobody talked. We all just sat around the kitchen table, looking at each other, wondering who would break the silence. That must have lasted for five minutes. Finally, Mabel spoke up:

"So..." she said. "I think that we can all agree that what happened in the forest was pretty unexpected." Wendy and I nodded.

"Listen, Dipper." Wendy said, "I am really sorry. I was out of line. I shouldn't have-"

"No," I interrupted "It's okay."

"Then why have you been avoiding me all night?" She asked me.

"I don't know." I said, "I'm just not sure what to think. I've had a crush on you for so long, but never thought we'd have the chance to be together. I would have given anything for that to happen, but when it did, it just didn't feel quite right."

"Yeah," Wendy agreed.

"Just one quick question," I began, "How long have you, you know, liked me?"

"Well," she replied "I've always thought of you as a little more than a friend, almost like a little brother. But I guess in the last few days, you've done so much for me that I just sort of, developed feelings for you."

"Well, what about Robbie?" I asked.

"I'm going to break up with Robbie." She said. "After realizing how horrible he is to you guys, I just can't keep dating him. I thought he was better than that, you know? I thought he had changed"

"What do you mean, changed?" Mabel asked. Wendy sighed.

"Mabel, you know how you asked why I keep putting myself down?" Mabel nodded "Well, I think I'm ready to tell you why. You see, it all started in seventh grade, when I had just turned twelve. There was a group of people who made it their personal goals to make my life miserable. They probably bullied other kids, too, but I didn't notice." I gasped. I couldn't possibly imagine anyone bullying Wendy.

"Who were they?" I asked.

"That's the thing." She said, "Nowadays, they're the people I call my friends."

**_*Flashback, 3_****_rd_****_ Person POV*_**

_ Walking down the hallways towards lunch, Wendy spotted a group of five kids. She put her head down, and started walking faster. _

_"Please don't see me, **please** don't see me." She said under her breath, but it was too late. They had seen her. They walked up to her, and there was no escaping. They had her surrounded. _

_"Oh, look who it is, our little fast food restaurant!" A pale boy with jet-black hair and a black sweatshirt said with a smirk. "I thought I saw you today, but you didn't even make eye contact. Very rude." He said with a chuckle. Wendy seemed to recede into herself like a turtle into its shell. _

_"Well, what do you expect from a __**lumberjack's**__ daughter?" A short girl with purple hair said, looking up from her phone for only a short time in order to see Wendy's reaction to her comment. _

_"Maybe you should leave her alone, guys." Said a fairly chubby kid standing at the back of the group. _

_"Oh, be quiet, Thompson!" The pale kid yelled. "You're barely allowed to hang with us now, and I wouldn't recommend that you blow it." _

_"Sorry, Robbie" Thompson replied hastily. _

_"Oh, and by the way, I just __**adore**__ your hair." The girl said sarcastically, "The dead fish look is __**so**__ in right now!" They all laughed. _

_"Hey, Nate," A tall, blonde boy said, turning to the person next to him, "I wonder what she's got for lunch." _

_"I don't know, Lee." Nate said, reaching for the small paper bag in Wendy's hand, "Let's find out." He pulled out a sandwich. "Hey, Tambri, you like grilled cheese, right?" She nodded, and he threw it to her. _

_"W-what are you doing?" Wendy asked. _

_"We're hungry, so we decided to..." Lee paused, trying to think of the right word. "**Share** with you" he finished. _

_"The rest looks pretty good, too," Robbie said. "If you don't mind, we'll just take it all." _

_"Actually, I'm pretty hungry, so-" Wendy began _

_"Oh, be quiet." Lee interrupted. _

_"Later, Brace Face." Robbie said with a smirk. With that, they all walked away, leaving Wendy sitting on the ground, hungry and sobbing. Thompson looked back, shooting her a sympathetic glance, but it really wasn't much help._

**Present Day, Dipper POV**

As Wendy finished her story, she began to cry. I couldn't believe what I had heard. How in the world could someone do something so terrible to her?

"Thompson was always nice enough," She sniffled, "But he never did anything to help. Of course, I couldn't blame him. If he was accepted into the group, and then blew it, they would make his life even more miserable than they made mine. Heck, he **still** lets them push him around. Luckily, though, most of them are much nicer, nowadays, but apparently Robbie hasn't changed a bit."

"Wait." I said. How exactly did you end up hanging out with them?"

"Well, after a few years, when my acne had cleared up, I got my braces off, and everyone caught up to me height-wise, they left me alone. Then, one day, they just walked up to me and asked me to be in their group. At first, I only agreed out of fear that if I said no, they would be mean to me again. But, after a while, they proved that they had changed. They weren't exactly nice, per say. Just not…"

"Mean?" I offered.

"Yeah." She said. "But, based on how Robbie treats you guys, they probably aren't actually all that much better, nowadays. I just haven't noticed."

"But why would their bullying you make you put **yourself** down?" I asked.

"I can answer that one." Mabel said. "I went through a similar thing with Pacifica. You see, Dipper, when you get bullied, it ruins your self-confidence and makes you afraid to be who you really are. You start to think that you're not any good, and put yourself down. Like the day when we found out about Quentin Trembley. I thought that I was too silly, and tried to change who I was, so Pacifica wouldn't be mean to me anymore."

"Wendy," I said, turning to her, "I am so sorry that I've been so inconsiderate. I had no idea-"

"Dipper." Wendy interrupted. "It's fine, don't worry about it." I smiled at her.

"I just have one more question." I said. "If Robbie was so horrible to you, then why did you agree to go out with him?"

"I don't know." She sighed, "I guess that I'm just too forgiving. When he asked me out, he just seemed really nervous, you know? I would have felt guilty if I had said no."

"So, I guess the other timeline would have worked out better for both of us." I said.

"What?" She asked.

"There were some things that we did this summer that I didn't tell you about. A lot of things, actually." I began. I proceeded to tell her about the clones, the time machine, Rumble McSkirmish, and everything else that we had done involving her and Robbie."

"Well, **that** explains a lot!" Wendy laughed.

"Yeah." I agreed. "Listen, Wendy. If you ever need anything, anything at all, just tell me, and I'll do **everything** I can to help you." I said.

"Well, there is one thing." She said.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Can I have a hug?" She asked. "Of course," I said. As I hugged her, I felt a teardrop fall onto my shoulder.

"Will we be able to undo this?" she asked.

"Of course we will." I replied.

"Good." She said, as she stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Because when we do, there's something I have to fix."


	8. Chapter 8

**Dipper POV**

Walking down the stairs the next morning, I was incredibly worried about Wendy. I knew that it was the last day for me to break the spell before it became permanent. She seriously believed that I could do it, too. I really didn't think that I would be able to, though. I just didn't have the heart to tell her. I didn't know what she would do if I failed. How could she explain to everyone what happened? She really couldn't explain without telling everyone about the journal, and there was no way I was going to let **that** happen. If she did manage to explain, what would everyone think? Would Wendy's so-called "friends" start harassing her again? All of these questions crossed my mind as I got something to eat for breakfast.

"What are **you** doing up so early, kid?" I heard behind me.

"Grunkle Stan!" I exclaimed. "Uh-uh, nothing! Just, uh, g-getting some, uh cereal." I stammered.

"At 4:00 in the morning?" Grunkle Stan asked. "Now, I'm going to play along and pretend that nothing suspicious is going on." He said. "Mainly because I don't want to get involved with any of your shenanigans. Enjoy your incredibly early breakfast." As he walked away, I breathed a sigh of relief.

**Mabel POV**

When I heard Dipper talking with Grunkle Stan, I got a little worried. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could tell that Dipper was kinda freaking out. Just as I was about to go down to help him, I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Okay, there's good news, and bad news." He said. The bad news is that Stan knows that something's going on. The good news is that he doesn't want anything to do with it."

"Okay," I said. "Let's eat quickly, and then head out"

"How long do we have again?" Wendy asked.

"Well," Dipper began, looking at his watch. "The spell took effect at twelve, and it is 4:07, so let's see, carry the two, ten minus seven-"

"About eight hours" I interrupted.

"Technically, seven hours and fifty three minutes." Dipper corrected.

"Yeah, yeah." I said.

"Well, we'd better hurry, then." Wendy said. Once we had eaten, Dipper began to gather everything we might need.

"I've typically found that most lessons we learn are when we do things we found in the journal," he said. "So maybe we should look for something to do in there."

"Good idea." Wendy replied. Dipper smiled at her. We were all really nervous, Wendy especially, but none of us were about to show it. We walked downstairs, looking to see if there was anything that would give us an idea. Nada.

"Let's just head into the forest" I suggested.

"Sure." Dipper replied. Then we headed outside.

**Wendy POV**

Four hours later, we were starting to get desperate. We had spent all that time in the woods, and not one thing had happened. As we emerged from the forest, we saw two people talking in front of the Mystery Shack, and we rushed to hide behind a bush. At first, we couldn't tell who it was, but eventually we realized that it was Stan and Robbie. The mere sight of my old tormenter-turned-boyfriend made me shudder. Dipper grabbed my hand and smiled at me.

"Don't worry; we won't let Robbie see you." I smiled back. Luckily, things were no longer awkward between us. In fact, if anything, it was less awkward then before.

"I wonder what they're talking about." I tried to make out what they were saying, but I could barely hear them. After a second, I heard something I recognized. It was my name. They were talking about me.

"Want to get closer?" Dipper asked me.

"Sure." I said. With that, we crawled to a hiding spot closer to the shack.

"Well, Dipper was acting a little unusual this morning," Stan said, "Maybe he had something to do with it."

"He always **has** had his eye on her." Robbie replied, "He really needs to lay off, I mean, come on, she's **my** girlfriend!"

"Ex-girlfriend." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm going to ignore that last comment, but I do agree that it is pretty weird." Stan said "Wendy does tend to disappear a lot, but never for several days straight!"

"Yeah, and usually, she's with **me** when she does!" Robbie added. "None of our friends have seen her, either. I talked to her dad, and he said that she was sleeping over somewhere. I've tried to text her, but she isn't responding."

"Okay, what is this texting thing that all you young people keep talking about?" Stan asked.

"It doesn't matter." Robbie responded, "All that matters is that something's up with Wendy, and I'm going to figure out what it is." Dipper, Mabel and I exchanged glances. Whether Robbie figured out what had happened or not, we had a lot of explaining to do.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wendy POV**

Dipper looked at his watch: 8:30.

"We're running out of time!" He exclaimed.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Mabel asked. "We can't go back to the Mystery Shack, Stan and Robbie might see us!"

"Yeah." I agreed.

"I could go in." Dipper offered.

"Are you sure?" I asked

"Definitely." He said.

"Well, we don't really need anything from the Shack right now, do we?" Mabel asked.

"Well, we could get Soos again." Dipper offered.

"I guess he could be helpful." I said. With that, he headed towards the Shack.

"Oh, look" Robbie said turning towards Dipper, "The king of twerps himself."

"It's nice to see you too, Robbie." Dipper said sarcastically.

"Hey, Knucklehead, have you seen Wendy around?" Stan asked.

"Uh, no, w-why would I have seen Wendy? If you haven't seen her, then I obviously haven't-"

"Relax, kid it was just a question." Stan interrupted. "Oh."

Dipper said.

"Wait, Relax?" Robbie asked Stan, "Did you** not** hear how panicked he got when you asked that?" I think he **does** know something." Dipper gulped. "Now, I want the truth. Where is Wendy?" He grabbed Dipper by his shirt collar and lifted him up.

"I-I told you, I don't know!" Dipper shouted.

"You're lying." Robbie said, "Tell me, **or else**." I gasped. If Robbie hurt him, I would never be able to forgive myself. I started to stand up.

"Wendy, what are you doing?" Mabel whispered.

"The only thing that will get Robbie to leave Dipper alone is if he sees where I am." I told her.

"But-"

"No buts, Mabel. I'm going to do it." I said, starting to raise my voice.

"What was that?" Robbie asked, turning towards the place where we were concealed.

"N-nothing!" Dipper yelled.

"No, I definitely heard something. And it was coming from over there." Robbie said, pointing to our hiding place. He started heading towards us, a protesting Dipper in hand. I took a deep breath. "What in the world is-" Robbie stopped mid-sentence as he got a glimpse of me and Mabel.

"Hi, Robbie." I said awkwardly. For a while he just stood there, wide-eyed, looking at me.

"Well, this is awkward." Mabel said. As Dipper managed to wriggle out of his grasp, Robbie finally said something.

"W-Wendy?"

"Yeah." I replied.

"H-how-"

"It's a long story." I said.

"You're not going to be stuck like this, are you?" he asked.

"I might be, we still don't know."

"Gosh, I totally forgot that you were such a-"

"Such a what?" I asked.

"Nothing." He said.

"No, really," I said. "What** were** you going to say? Loser?** Nerd?** **_Freak?_**"

"N-no." Robbie said.

"Really? Because those were all things that you called me when we were younger. Quite frequently, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah, just because that was the truth." He muttered.

"Oh, really? So, if I was still like this as a fifteen year-old, you never would have asked me out?"

"Well, duh!" Robbie said.

"Wow." I said. "You really haven't changed, Robbie. Not one bit."

**Stan POV**

I still can't really comprehend what happened. So, Wendy was Dipper and Mabel's age all of a sudden, and started going on and on to that Robbie kid about how rotten he was. It was pretty hilarious watching him get told off by someone so much smaller than him. He really didn't seem to know what to do. I think that he was as confused as me. Of course, that would be pretty difficult, because despite being entertained, I was also** really** confused.

**Dipper POV**

I could tell that Wendy was pretty flustered, and it wasn't much help when Robbie's friends showed up, well, at first, anyway.

"Hey, Rob, any luck finding Wendy? Lee asked.

"Yeah, but I kind of wish I** didn't** find her." He replied.

"Why?" Tambri asked looking up from her phone, "Did she dump you?"

"Sort of. I'm actually not quite sure what's going on." He replied.

"Wait." Nate said "Where **is** Wendy?"

"I'm right in front of you, Nate." Wendy said, crossing her arms.

"Oh my gosh!" Thompson said.

"I know, right?" Robbie said. "She's been talking my ear off ever since I found out what happened."

"About?" Tambri asked.

"What?" Robbie asked

"What has she been talking about?" Tambri clarified.

"Oh, just claiming that I'm a horrible person." Robbie replied.

"W-why?" Nate asked.

"I think that we **all** know why." Wendy said. "But **you** guys aren't willing to admit it."

"Oh, yeah?" Robbie asked. "Give one example of something bad I've done to these guys."

"Oh, I can give much more than one." Wendy said turning to the others. "Tambri, he tried to **leave** you and Thompson at the Dusk 2 Dawn when the ghosts attacked."

"Well that's just because-" Robbie began.

"Lee, Nate," Wendy continued, cutting Robbie off, "How many times a day does Robbie argue with you or insult you?"

"A lot." They said in unison.

"And, Thompson, there really isn't much that he **didn't** do to you, is there? He teased you, graffiti'ed your car, made you do things against your will. Heck, he just plain bullied you! And **all** of you guys did similar to** me** when we were little." Lee and Nate looked at each other, then at Tambri and Thompson.

"Wendy, I'm really sorry." Nate said.

"Yeah," Lee agreed. "We were young and stupid."

"We just were doing what Robbie told us to do because we thought that it would make us look cooler, but in retrospect, it was just plain mean." Tambri said.

"Oh, come on, guys!" Robbie said. "You're not actually **siding** with this loser, are you?"

"Y-yes, we are." Thompson said. "Because she's right. And you're wrong. And the fact that you call her a loser just because she isn't quite as attractive as when **you **asked her out, just shows what a jerk you are." By the look on Robbie's face, you could tell that Thompson had never stood up to him like that.

"If any of you take Wendy's side, then you're out of the group!" They all exchanged glances. I held my breath. There was a short pause in which nothing happened. Then, Thompson walked over and stood beside Wendy.

"I never used to do anything to help Wendy when you guys were mean to her because I was afraid, but I'm not so afraid anymore." He smiled at her. Then, Lee and Nate walked over to join them, crossing their arms.

"All you've ever done is pushed us around, Robbie" Lee said.

"And we're tired of it." Nate added. Tambri hesitated, but eventually, decided to join them.

"So what if we're out of the group?" She said. "It wouldn't be the same without these guys, anyway." Robbie crossed his arms.

"So? I don't **need** you guys!" he said. "You were holding me back, anyway."

"Holding you back from what?" Lee asked. "Your so-called band? Because Nate and I were in **that**, too." Robbie stormed off.

"Thanks, you guys." Wendy said.

"No problem." Tambri replied. "Oh, by the way, how exactly did you become-"

"Twelve?" Wendy interrupted. They all nodded. "It's kind of a long story." She said.

"We've got time." Lee said.

"Well, it all started when Dipper here heard the story about the witch in the cave."

"Where did he hear it?" Thompson asked. Wendy turned to me.

"He read about it in a book he found in-" I started motioning to her to indicate that they couldn't find out about the journal.

"The, uh library!" She said. I smiled at her. I knew that she wouldn't tell my secret. I could trust her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Wendy POV**

Sitting in the Mystery Shack, trying yet again to figure out what the witch wanted us to learn, I was beginning to get an awful headache.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. "It's 11:30, and we still haven't broken the spell!"

"I'm sure it will all work out." Mabel said enthusiastically.

"I don't know, Mabel. We're almost out of time." I said.

"Well, now we have more help!" Dipper said optimistically.

"**Help** doesn't teach a lesson, Dipper!" I yelled. "Unless-"

"Unless what?"

"Unless I tell them about the journal."

"**_NO!_** H-how would that help anyway?"

"Maybe we might realize something that we never thought of before."

"I-I think we thought of everything."

"Oh, come on, Dip!" Mabel argued. "Wendy's right, telling them might give us some ideas!"

"The answer is no, and that's final!" Dipper yelled.

"But-" Mabel began.

"It's no use, Mabel. He won't budge." I sighed.

"Come on, guys! We have to figure this out!"

"I don't think we can, Dipper." I said.

"Why not?"

"It's been nearly two days, and we've made **zero** progress! I don't think that a half hour will be enough time." I told him. Dipper sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Maybe we should start trying to explain this to people. By the looks of it, it'll be permanent. I might as well get a head start on letting my friends and family know."

"No way! We're not going to give up!" Dipper argued.

"I appreciate your persistence, Dipper, but there really is a point that you have to accept that **this** is how it is now. There's no way we can break the spell. Even **you** have to admit that."

"Fine. I just hate to give up on something this serious."

"You did the best you could, Dipper." Mabel reassured him.

"But my best wasn't good enough."

"It was good enough for me." I said.

"But you'll be stuck as a twelve year old-"

"Until I turn thirteen." I interrupted. "And then fourteen, and then I'll be back to fifteen. Sure, I was set back a few years, but it's not going to last forever. You did your best. That's all that matters."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Awww!" Mabel said. "You guys are so adorable!"

"For the last time, Mabel, I don't like being called 'adorable'." Dipper said.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

"It makes me sound like a little kid or something."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know. I just wish that people would see me as more..."

"Manly?" I offered.

"Yeah." He said.

"No wonder you and Gideon don't get along. You're complete opposites." I laughed.

"Yeah, he like, makes his living on being adorable." Soos said, walking in.

"Well, there's a lot more than that going on, but I suppose that's sort of true." Dipper said.

"Yeah. He's like the anti-Dipper!" Mabel laughed.

"Well, getting back to our original conversation," Dipper said with a chuckle. "Wendy, how do you think we can break the news to your dad?"

"I don't know." I replied. "Maybe you can tell him by yourself, and **then** I can come in, so he doesn't get all freaked out."

"What about the rest of the town?" Mabel asked.

"I have an idea, dude." Soos said. "Maybe you can get everyone together in the center of town and like, explain it to 'em or somethin'."

"I don't know, Soos-" Dipper began.

"Actually, that's a pretty good idea. There aren't that many people in the town, so it should be easy to gather them all." I said.

"Ooh! And Grunkle Stan's really good at getting people's attention!" Mabel added. "He can get everyone to meet-"

"And then we can explain it to everyone, so no one will get confused when they see me, and I don't have to tell the story a bunch of times!" I finished.

"You, know what? I think this might work." Dipper said. "But how can we get Stan to do it?"

"Knowing Stan, he'll probably use it to advertise the Shack." I said. "This would be great publicity for him."

"Maybe you'll like, get your own exhibit or somethin'." Soos said.

"Yeah." I said. I had never thought of that. Realizing that I could end up as one of Stan's so-called "oddities", I started to have second thoughts about going public with what happened. Would Stan exploit it for his own personal gain? **Obviously**. Would I be treated the same as I always was? Probably not. Would people distance themselves from me, coming up with strange rumors about what happened being contagious or something? Knowing this town and the tourists in it, most likely. Suddenly, I felt just the way I had when the spell first took effect: like a walking freak show. I forced myself not to think about it, focusing on the plan. Despite my nagging doubts, I knew that we had to go through with it. There was no way that something this extreme would go unnoticed.

"Wendy?" Mabel asked.

"Yes?" I asked, snapping back into reality.

"We'd better get ready. We might as well do it today."

"Yeah, sure." I sighed. With that, we ran off to find Stan.

**Dipper POV**

Stan was more than happy to help us out, and I was incredibly surprised that he was able to achieve it so quickly. By 11:45, we were in the square, surrounded by townspeople. Wendy was hidden for the time being. We didn't really know what to say, so we figured that we would just wing it.

"Okay, everyone," I began, "I suppose you all wonder why we have gathered you here." Nearly all of them nodded. I spotted Pacifica in the back, arms crossed, tapping her feet, obviously still upset with us for revealing the truth about Nathaniel Northwest. I scanned the crowd, trying to locate Manly Dan. I figured that if Wendy's dad wasn't there, then it really would all be for nothing. I finally spotted him sitting next to Wendy's three brothers, and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm guessing that you all know Wendy Corduroy." I said. At this, her brothers, who hadn't been paying attention, looked up, their eyes wide. (At least the two who's eyes weren't covered by their hair. I can't tell you about the other one.) "Well, some of you might know that she hasn't really been around, lately." I continued. "Well, we are here to explain why."

"I'll take it from here, Dip." Mabel said. "I think most of you know the old legend about there being a witch in the forest by the Mystery Shack that grants wishes to anyone who can find her." Everyone nodded. "Well, after learning about this, Dipper here went into the forest, and was able to find her. Now, I think we all know that Dipper had a crush on Wendy."

"Wait…Everyone knows?"

"Yeah, Dip. It's pretty obvious. Anyway, a couple days ago, Dipper was getting pretty jealous of Wendy's boyfriend, Robbie, so he asked the witch to make him and Wendy the same age, so she would go out with **him**, instead. But, as you can see, Dipper is not fifteen. And that, of course, means…"

"Wait, wait wait!" One of Wendy's brothers said, standing up. "Are you saying that Wendy is…?"

"Twelve." I said. Everyone gasped.

"Yeah, right." Pacifica scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it!"

"Yeah!" Several people agreed.

"This is probably just one of Stan's tricks!" I heard from the back.

"You don't believe us, huh?" I asked. "Well, I can prove it to you! Wendy?" With this, Wendy walked out, met by many gasps and looks of utter confusion.

"Hey, everyone." She said sheepishly, peering at the clock tower. 11:50. She said that she was okay with what happened, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't nearly as good with it as she had told us.

"How did you hear the legend, when only Gravity Falls citizens know it?" Toby Determined asked from the crowd.

"Well, it all started when I was in the library, looking through the books when I saw…" Looking at Wendy, I stopped midsentence. Seeing the look in her eyes, I figured that she deserved for me to tell the truth, no matter how much I didn't want it known. It was the least I could do. "Actually, it started in the forest." I began, taking a deep breath. Wendy turned to me with a surprised look on her face. "I was putting up signs for the Mystery Shack, and came across this journal." I reached into my vest and pulled it out. "It tells about all the supernatural happenings in Gravity Falls. That's where I found the legend of the witch. I thought that discovering the witch was one of the best things that ever happened to me, but it actually was one of the worst. Now, Wendy will be stuck like this as soon as the clock strikes twelve." Everyone turned to look at the clock: 11:59. Slowly, the hand moved closer and closer, and finally, it moved. 12:00. I sighed in defeat, turning towards Wendy, when I noticed a bright flash of light, and then another, and then another. Ribbons of multicolored lights zoomed in, surrounding Wendy, and with one more bright flash, they were gone. A thick layer of smoke impaired my vision, and as it slowly cleared, I made my way to Wendy, who had collapsed on the ground.

"W-Wendy?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" She sat up and put her hand on her forehead, groaning. Finally able to get a good look at her, I gasped at what I saw.

**Wendy POV**

Seeing Dipper's surprised expression, I figured that something must be wrong.

"W-what's going on?" I asked. That was when I realized what it was. My voice was very familiar, yet fairly different. Lower, more mature. Then I noticed that I no longer felt the uncomfortable pull of braces on my teeth. I stood up shakily, and saw that I was once again significantly taller than the twins. At the time, I didn't know how Dipper had done it, but he had. I was fifteen again.

**Mabel POV**

Obviously, there was a lot of celebrating after that. Why wouldn't there be? Wendy gave Dipper a big hug, and his face turned completely red. It was hilarious! Her friends came up and joined us, nearly as excited for her as we were. Robbie stood in the back of the crowd, with a grouchy look on his face, and put his hood up, pulling the strings so only his nose stuck out. We all saw him and laughed really hard, especially Wendy. Manly Dan and Wendy's three brothers ran up and gave her a hug, too. Other than Robbie, it seemed like the only person who wasn't happy was Grunkle Stan, because it had been a big business opportunity for him. Even though he didn't show it, though, I think that he was secretly happy for her, too.

**Dipper POV**

I literally don't think I have ever seen anyone as happy as Wendy was at that very moment. I was glad for her too, don't get me wrong, but I was also fairly confused. I was supposed to learn a lesson, but I really didn't think that I had. Later that day, however, I found out. I walked into the attic, put the journal on my bed, and started heading back downstairs. From behind me came the sound of turning pages and I turned around to see that the journal's pages were flipping by themselves. They eventually stopped, and I walked towards it to find that it was on a page that had previously been blank. I picked it up and started reading:

_Congratulations on breaking the spell. Many people aren't able to do so. I suppose that you are wondering why it was broken, as you likely do not even realize that you learned a lesson at all. Well. I'll tell you: you did something that you did not want to do at all, in order to help someone else. In the beginning, you never would have revealed your secret, but as you learned more about Wendy's life, and saw how others were indirectly affected by the spell as well, you began to see that it is important to do what is right, even if it is something that you would rather not do. As a reward, I can grant your wish as you had originally intended. Come to my cave tomorrow at noon, and you shall finally get what you have wanted all this time._

I smiled and chuckled, putting the journal down. I walked downstairs, knowing exactly what I was going to do. The next day at noon, I walked out, flashing a smile at Wendy, who Stan had insisted go to work. I walked through the forest, entered the witch's cave, and declined her offer.

"My work here is done." I said to myself as I walked out. "Besides, I can wait a few years."


End file.
